Anxiety and uncertainty can cause us to become more idealistic and more radical in our religious beliefs, according to new findings by York University researchers, published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. . . [T]he results of this research program suggest that bold but vulnerable people gravitate to idealistic and religious extremes for relief from anxiety.
See this related cross-link to Gregory Paul’s work showing that religion thrives when a population feels insecure.
